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GIVING YOUNG PEOPLE A VOICE! |
Fares aren’t very fair
6th December 2007
By TOM FOLLETT
TRAIN operator First Great Western recently announced the next round of fare rises, to arrive in January next year.
The cost increase, an average of 5.3 per cent, is the latest misfortune to hit young people who rely on public transport in North Somerset.
They already have to pay a full adult fare as soon as they turn 16 despite being too young to drive and too young to earn the national minimum wage. The fares set to rise include cheap day returns, which are tickets bought on the day, usually for local travel and probably the type most young people would buy.
The fare increases, likely to continue next year will be particularly annoying as passengers have watched FirstGroup take a record £103m in profits, up 11 per cent on last year.
Despite this, First says the fare rises are ‘inevitable’ and that it needs the extra income to continue ‘investing £200m in services’, and to return money to the Government which has recently said it will slash the subsidy to run the rail network by £1 billion.
Young people in the area will take another hit in the pocket from these unfair fare increases, tightening their already over-stretched purse strings.
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